In the art, vehicle assembly can include modular components such as a roof, front end, rear end, and the like. In the past, a conventional sheet metal roof could be welded to the vehicle. Currently, roof assemblies, including composite modular roofs and roofs with modular components such as a sunroof, are typically glued to the vehicle. This typically requires an expensive process with a specific glue station and assembly robot. In this instance, the vehicle roof assembly often requires making a complete new roof skin covered with plastic film or painting or coating metal to color-match the vehicle if the roof assembly is added outside of the normal vehicle paint and assembly process. This type of assembly requires extra development time and cost to change the vehicle structure to accept a modular roof and to process the roof system through the gluing process.
Also known in the art is the need to reinforce a roof after an opening, such as for a sunroof, has been formed. Current roof reinforcement practice is to weld or hem a stamped steel reinforcement ring around the opening. This reinforcement ring can provide several functions, such as: adding structure back to a vehicle's roof that is compromised by the opening, adding components that tie the reinforcement ring onto the body structure, and providing attachment points and locating features to allow a sunroof module to be attached to a vehicle.
Manufacturing roof reinforcements is both time and labor intensive. For example, a sheet metal blank can be processed through a series of dies, then bonded to a roof using anti-flutter technology or structural adhesive either welded or hemmed around the roof opening. The roof and ring assembly is then shipped to a vehicle assembly plant, where it is welded to the vehicle and painted. Finally, at some point in the vehicle assembly, such as the trim operation, a sunroof module is attached to the reinforcement ring.
While this technology marks a great advance in the art, further advances are possible. For example, there is a desire and need in the art to reduce time and cost to manufacture vehicles, while also increasing flexibility and component integration. The present invention attempts to achieve these reductions using composite materials to replace the sheet metal reinforcement ring.